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Monday, August 15, 2016

In A Vase On Monday, Sizzle and Silver, August 15, 2016

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For In a Vase on Monday, answering hostess Cathy's challenge to find some flowers to plonk in a vase, I got rather carried away after not posting for a while, since I was inspired by some new vases I just poured and fired, this one I had to deconstruct and rearrange upside down to experiment with adding holes in the top, which had been the bottom, so I could play around with using them for arrangements. I poured glaze in through the holes for the inside so it worked out OK.

I tried one vase of short stems of some hot summer colors, with Crocosmia 'montbretia', Coreopsis, Oxeye daisy, and deep magenta Lychnis coronaria-

Then I tried a fluffy arrangement of Monarda 'Panorama', I liked the effect with the short fluffy flowers in the holes. I was surprised that in this photo the flower centers seem to match the heirloom silver glaze-

I'm drying some flowers and leaves to try them as a tea.

I couldn't resist another vase of some sizzling summer colors- ground cover rose Red Ribbons has a lovely ripple to the petals and this is all one sizzling spray; Crocosmia 'montbretia'; and a peachy cactus Dahlia-

Hard to see but fitting the color palette are small flowers of Gaillardia 'Sundance' and Coreopsis 'Route 66'-

And another vase with the peachy Dahlias, a gladiolus, and Crocosmia 'montbretia'-

I succeeded in getting earlier bloom from my Dahlia which I leave in the ground over the winter this year after very late October bloom last year, by inverting a plastic bin over the plant during the winter, though the other Dahlia of equal size last year that I treated the same way did not respond well but had very few stems come up this year and is still quite small.

And to show that my main emphasis in gardening is actually fruits and vegetables, I will throw in a photo of some of my pears that are especially abundant this year-

Summer is flitting by, I hope you are enjoying lots of flowers and fruits as well. Hannah

20 comments:

Oh what a selection of vases you have produced for our delight, and what a success your new vase with the heirloom silver glaze is. Whe I saw it I thought at firat it was was a bottomless insert for a vase and instantly it made me wonder if I could improvise with the bottom of a plastic bottle with holes punched in... I shall try it so watch out in a future IAVOM and thanks for inadvertantly giving me the idea!

I had the idea for the vase, I think from seeing one on IAVOM before with holes in the top, but I didn't think about the difficulty of cleaning it later but I guess I could just bleach it if necessary. I was disappointed at the difficulty of arranging flowers in it, I guess the holes need to be smaller or fit the diameter of the stems so they won't flop. I will have to experiment with it. I'm glad you liked it, Cathy. I hadn't fired my kiln for a long time, but the grandkids always enjoy making stuff too.

Sometimes I have hand-built items but this time fired stuff for my grandkids that was mostly greenware from the ceramics store that they glazed, and vases and planters that I poured from slip and glazed. I had fun making something different here by cutting up the poured vase and reassembling it upside down and adding the holes and a bottom. It gives me something different to play around with when arranging flowers.

The vase turned out well, now I need to figure out how to arrange flowers in it to make it look fuller, like you achieved with your flower frog. I haven't been much for canning but give fruit to my son's family and the homeless shelter. I cook some to eat and sometimes freeze the sauce, and also make fruit gelatin.

Thanks, Dorothy, I'm so happy that protecting my dahlia over winter worked in earlier blooms, last year they started so late I didn't get many flowers. I love them with the crocosmia too. I made some other vases too I will have to show off soon.

Wow! Welcome back to "IaVoM," Hannah! Your new pot design is inspired and it works great with all the alternatives you chose. I love that Monarda - is it as as lavender in color as it appears in your photo?

Hi Kris, great to hear from you again. I liked the effect of the vase with the Monarda. They are some I grew from seed, I think Panorama since that's what I had in my records, and they are that lavender, but the centers don't look that metallic. They got quite tall, and I tried drying some flowers and leaves for tea, it turned out quite tasty so I'm going to dry more of them. Tall flowers I put in the holes of the vase tended to swivel so were not as successful as the short ones and especially the Monarda which fans out to cover the top so well.

Thanks, Ricki, the Monarda centers photograph very metallic. I was pleased how the silver vase turned out, it will just take some time to figure out what looks good in it, the Monarda made a nice effect.

Hello, Hannah! Your flowers arrangements are so pretty. I am used to seeing the monarda in the red color. The purple is beautiful. The dahlias are lovely. They are all beautiful flowers. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

Thanks, Eileen, I was surprised to see the Monarda bloom since it took two years. I dried the flowers and some leaves for tea and they were tasty so I dried the rest of the flowers too. It's great to have a new plant blooming, I hope they return well. The Dahlias are amazing this year since they started early.

Great collection of posies. The Monarda flowers look perfect and the colours are like those of an oriental carpet.I came here from a nice comment you put on one of my other blogs - a year or so ago.See you on Cathy's vase post for today? Or is this it?

Thanks, it's fun to finally get the Monarda to bloom, I didn't know what color to expect. This is my IAVOM post. I have dropped off from posting every week because of eye difficulties but will try to post occasionally.

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About Me

I live in the PNW (Pacific Northwest). I have a Master's degree in biology from the Univ. of Colorado, Boulder. I have been gardening in various locales for 43 years. I enjoy working outside, and like to do things myself rather than spectate.